Emergency Care

The emergency rooms at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans and Tulane Lakeside Hospital in Metairie are the best places to go if the worst ever happens to you or your family. When you visit our ER, your emergency is our emergency. Adults and children who visit our ERs receive care from an experienced team of emergency physicians, specially trained nurses, technicians and other healthcare professionals within minutes of arriving through our doors.

The ERs at both of our hospitals serving the New Orleans area offer expert, compassionate care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employing the latest techniques and technology, Tulane’s emergency room works closely with the area’s ambulance services to ensure the best possible care, beginning even before patients arrive at the hospital so emergency physicians can plan for treatment before arrival.

Urgent care or ER?

Sometimes, it can be hard to tell what level of care you or a loved one need, especially if your doctor’s office is closed. Knowing where to go when you don’t feel well can save you unnecessary medical expense or, more importantly, save your life.

Pediatric emergency room in New Orleans

The Tulane Medical Center ER in New Orleans and the Tulane Lakeside Hospital for Women and Children ER in Metairie have specialized children’s emergency rooms with highly trained staffs of kid-friendly physicians and nurses. You can rest easier knowing your child has access to some of the best pediatric care in the region in your own community.

Senior-Friendly ER

At Tulane Medical Center, we know no two emergencies are alike – especially for our older patients. That’s why we’ve created a specialized emergency care program with seniors in mind. Our senior ER treatment rooms offer more amenities tailored to the needs of older adults, and our specially trained geriatric emergency certified staff work with patients to ensure they receive the highest-quality emergency care.

Fastest Average ER Wait Times

Tulane Medical Center offers the shortest wait times in the New Orleans area. In fact, our average ER wait times are consistently faster than local and national averages.

2015-2016 Averages

Source: Hospital Compare, July 1, 2015 – Mar. 31, 2016

5

Tulane Medical Center

25 Min

Louisiana Average

25 Min

National Average

Our ER staff is committed to getting you or a loved one the treatment you need quickly. We publically display our average ER wait times so you can make an informed decision about where to go when an emergency medical situation occurs.

Emergency Symptoms

If the pain is severe and unrelenting, your abdomen is tender to the touch or the pain radiates to your back, you should immediately visit the closest ER. If the pain is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should also seek emergency care:

While many people tolerate occasional aches and pains in their back, severe back pain may indicate a larger problem. But how do you know if your back pain, or that of a loved one, has reached the point that it requires an emergency room visit?

When dealing with an animal or insect bite, it can be hard to know whether to go to the ER. Many bites are minor and can be treated at home, but depending on the animal or insect the bite came from, and where the bite occurred, emergency treatment may be necessary.

Cat bites: Cat bites can easily become infected, especially when they happen on the hand or near a joint. A doctor will typically prescribe antibiotics.

Bites in the hand, face or joints: Dog and cat bites to the face, hands or joint tissue can cause underlying damage and infection.

Risk of rabies or tetanus: Wild, feral animal bites or bites from livestock carry the risk of rabies and tetanus. Follow-up shots may be necessary.

Risk of viral transmission: When human bites break the skin, viruses can be transmitted. It is always a good idea to have a human bite checked by a doctor.

Snake bite: Unless you know for sure the snake is not poisonous, seek emergency treatment and be prepared to describe the snake to the emergency staff.

Spider bite: If you notice any of the following symptoms, seek emergency care: surrounding redness and warmth, drainage from the bite, severe pain at the bite location or anywhere else in the body, severe cramping or vomiting.

For some people, the sight of blood can be scary, even when it's not life threatening. So how do you know when bleeding requires a trip to the emergency room?

The short answer is you should go the ER if you are losing a significant amount of blood, and bleeding is not controlled with direct pressure.

If you are unsure whether bleeding is serious enough to go to the ER, follow the guidelines below.

Nose: Hold direct pressure on the bridge of the nose for 10 minutes. If bleeding continues for an hour or more, go to the ER.

Intestinal: If you are vomiting blood or if there is blood in the stool, go to the ER.

Surgical: If you have recently had surgery, and the wound re-opens or starts bleeding, contact your surgeon. He or she may advise you to go to the ER.

General: If bleeding is not controlled by direct pressure, visit the ER.

Blood thinners: You should go to the ER if you experience bleeding while taking blood thinners. Blood thinners make it harder for your blood to clot on its own, so getting emergency medical help is important.

Chest pain is any pain - dull, sharp, burning, aching or crushing - experienced from the neck to the abdomen. Sudden Chest pain may indicate a serious problem, such as a heart attack or blood clot. Chest pain may also indicate a problem with your lungs, esophagus, muscles, ribs or digestive system. Some of these conditions are life-threatening, and others are not. The only way to know is to seek medical attention.

Symptoms may include:

Nausea or dizziness

Excessive sweating or ashen color

Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath - especially after a long period of inactivity

Pain spreading to the jaw, left arm or back

Sudden feeling of pressure, squeezing, tightness or crushing under the breastbone

Very rapid heartbeat and/or breathing

Very low blood pressure or very low heart rate

Confusion/disorientation

In short, if you are experiencing chest pain, you should not panic, but you should call 911 or visit the nearest ER.

Coughs and sore throats often seem like par for the course - especially during flu season. But if they are accompanied by any of the symptoms below, or if your immune system is compromised due to an existing condition, you may need to seek emergency treatment.

Seek ER treatment if the cough or sore throat is accompanied by:

Difficulty breathing

Shortness of breath

High fever

Coughing up blood

Inability to swallow

Muffled voice

Inability to open mouth all the way

Significant swelling on one side of the throat, which may indicate an abscess of the tonsil

Your immune system can be compromised by the following:

Cancer

HIV/AIDS

Recent transplant (and accompanying transplant medication)

Existing severe infection or illness

If you are coughing or have a sore throat while your immune system is compromised, seek emergency care.

Feelings of dizziness can actually indicate two different conditions: lightheadedness and vertigo.

Lightheadedness can cause you to feel dizzy or as if you are about to pass out, but not as though your surroundings are moving. Often, this feeling of lightheadedness goes away once you lie down. Vertigo is a feeling that you or your surroundings are moving when neither actually is. Feeling as though you're off balance or tilting could be an indicator of vertigo.

Adults

For the majority of people, the occasional headache shouldn't cause concern. However, the sudden onset of a prolonged headache may require a visit to the emergency room.

If you experience the sudden onset of a headache that interferes with daily tasks or is debilitating, you should immediately visit the closest ER. If the headache is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, you should also seek emergency care:

In many cases, a rash or skin irritation does not require emergency care. Common, non-emergency causes may include minor allergic reactions to plants (such as poison ivy and poison oak); allergic reactions to soaps, detergents or shampoos; reactions to heat or cold; and reactions to stress or embarrassment. When rashes occur for these reasons, they generally respond to home care.

However, some rashes can indicate a more serious problem and need emergency care.

Seek ER treatment if the rash is accompanied by any of the following:

Fever

Joint pain

Headache

Shortness of breath

Tightness/swelling in the throat

Areas of tenderness

Streaks of red

Skin peeling way or blisters in the mouth

Abnormal bleeding or bruises under the rash

If the rash is recurring or persistent, it may indicate a skin condition or an ongoing allergic reaction to a medication. You may not need to go to the ER, but you should make an appointment with your primary care physician to seek medical treatment.

You've probably experienced feelings of weakness at one time or another, especially when you're tired, hungry or sick. But when does a feeling of weakness cross the threshold from a condition that can be managed at home to a concern that needs emergency care?

If you're not sure whether to visit an ER if you're feeling weak, consider these guidelines.

Weakness in certain areas of the body may indicate a larger, more serious problem. If you are experiencing weakness in the face, or weakness or numbness on one side of the body, you should visit the nearest ER immediately as these signs may indicate that you are having a stroke. Other signs of stroke include:

Slurred speech

Confusion

Drooping in the face

An emergency room visit may also be necessary if you have a feeling of weakness throughout the entire body that is accompanied by these symptoms: